Playing With Friends

Eddie is growing up, folks. Remember this little shy guy who balked at any outside attention? Now he approaches every child he sees in public. One day he saw a boy and a girl, two years older than him, playing by our house while we were arriving home from somewhere. He immediately approached them and played with them for a bit. After that they began to come to our house, twice daily, to see if he could play with them. The first time they came over it was 8:30 p.m., long after Eddie had gone to bed. The next morning they came back, and Eddie opted to go outside to play. I set some strict restrictions on where they could play, and I watched from the window the entire time (Eddie's only four!). I thought it might bother E that I was watching, but he saw me and waved and signed "I love you" and kept looking up to make sure I was watching. He even continuously talked to me, requiring me to open the window. The kids did an excellent job following my rules. Eddie had them all playing firefighter in no time. I can't believe how big Eddie is and how much more comfortable he has become with other people. He is not a bossy friend, but he is an instigator in what to play. I am so proud of him.

As an update, Eddie has never gone back out to play with these kids. They kept coming over for two weeks to ask but have now given up on him. We are all fine with this; there will be plenty of years of playing with friends when Eddie is older. (And it's not like Eddie doesn't have organized playdates with friends we know!)